Hello ladies,
What kind of viable solutions have people used to regrow or restore their hair?
I recently received a consult from the hair club and was told that I have more than a 50% loss and replacement surgery would not work; however, their "hair matrix" aka hair Superglue to the scalp was their recommendation.
Please advise...
- Breanne :-*
Quote from: BreanneRose on October 24, 2011, 09:05:35 PM
Hello ladies,
What kind of viable solutions have people used to regrow or restore their hair?
I recently received a consult from the hair club and was told that I have more than a 50% loss and replacement surgery would not work; however, their "hair matrix" aka hair Superglue to the scalp was their recommendation.
Please advise...
- Breanne :-*
Hey. So here's my story and knowledge. I started hormones when I was 24 1/2. Now I'm 26. I had a bad receding hair line. Also my crown was showing. Now my crown is mostly covered and my hair line is restoring slow but getting there.
+ I tried Rogaine and found that it made it worse.
+ I tried taking herbs to lower DHT levels and cholesterol . That just made me sick.
-I took the following
+ Stinging Nettle
+ Saw Palmetto
+ Soy Isoflavones
+ Pygeum
+ Pumpkin Seed Oil (still take this)
+ Fish Oil (still take this)
+ I tried Derma rollers, I can't say if that worked or not. Because my hair was growing back from most likely the hormones
+ I used Nexxus, that seemed to feel like my scalp was clean, but didn't really notice anything from it.
+ I made a shampoo myself with the following products, it seems to help a lot especially Tea Tree Oil.
- Tea Tree Oil (15 drops)
- Olive Oil (Extra Virgin) - a good amount but not too much otherwise the hair gets too oily
- Emu Oil - I tried, but that got expensive. However, there are claims.
- Organic Base shampoo that has plant extract in it
- I also throw in Pantene conditioner.
+ I also condition my hair with "Its' a 10"
+ This may sound funny but I wear a night cap to bed. lol. I was afraid that I could possibly be tugging my hair when I was sleeping while trying to move. I caught myself a couple times.
+ The hormones definitely helped a lot.
I'm sorry I have a lot of things that didn't work for me in this list. But just letting you know that it didn't work for me. The worst case scenario is a wig. A lot of girls wear wigs now and days. But I totally feel what your going through. I hope some of this may help you.
I forgot to mention Biotin. I noticed my hair growing at a faster rate. Just FYI
;)
if meds dont work to help regrow hair, a wig is the only other option
BreanneRose
Have your doctor look into Avadort. I had a large receding hairline and my back hair was thinning to the point where you could see the scalp.
In less than two years, I have more hair than I did when I was 12.
If none of that worked, you can look into hair transplants too. But Avadort has a good tendency of working.
Quote from: Annah on October 24, 2011, 11:10:28 PM
BrokenCode
Have your doctor look into Avadort. I had a large receding hairline and my back hair was thinning to the point where you could see the scalp.
In less than two years, I have more hair than I did when I was 12.
Really? I'll definitely will look into that. Thanks!! ;)
I meant that for BreanneRose lol sorry! But you can take the advice too :P
Quote from: Annah on October 24, 2011, 11:13:58 PM
I meant that for BreanneRose lol sorry! But you can take the advice too :P
I was just thinking about that too. lol.
Quote from: Annah on October 24, 2011, 11:10:28 PM
BreanneRose
Have your doctor look into Avadort. I had a large receding hairline and my back hair was thinning to the point where you could see the scalp.
In less than two years, I have more hair than I did when I was 12.
If none of that worked, you can look into hair transplants too. But Avadort has a good tendency of working.
is that topical or oral?
Quote from: Annah on October 24, 2011, 11:10:28 PM
BreanneRose
Have your doctor look into Avadort. I had a large receding hairline and my back hair was thinning to the point where you could see the scalp.
In less than two years, I have more hair than I did when I was 12.
If none of that worked, you can look into hair transplants too. But Avadort has a good tendency of working.
you're good with research, can you PM me a link about this med?
Avadort comes in pill form.
i was looking on the nih website, is it avodart or avadort
Quote from: Jamie Nicole on October 25, 2011, 12:16:34 AM
you're good with research, can you PM me a link about this med?
http://www.bernsteinmedical.com/medical-treatment/medications/avodart-dutasteride/dutasteride-information-sheet/ (http://www.bernsteinmedical.com/medical-treatment/medications/avodart-dutasteride/dutasteride-information-sheet/)
http://www.forhair.com/avodart_hair_loss_product.htm (http://www.forhair.com/avodart_hair_loss_product.htm)
Avadort generic is Dutas.
My hair and me 2 year ago before dutas/Avadort:
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3185%2F5861668638_ae7135bf60.jpg&hash=57ce6dab67f543e2f8fa97625a93b1e53b84adab)
Quote from: Jamie Nicole on October 25, 2011, 12:20:22 AM
i was looking on the nih website, is it avodart or avadort
Avodart/Dutas
this is a link to the nih.gov website, is this it?
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a603001.html (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a603001.html)
I started hormones at age 21 and had the beginnings of a receding hairline. My doctor prescribed Avodart and it worked to stop the hair from going back any further, but I ultimately had a scalp advancement to recover the already lost area.
Annah, how does Avodart work differently than Spiro, do they have a different action on testosterone?
Just asking because I guess I am lucky, I had receding in the the two corners of my hairline and also in the crown I had a small spot. Well I was on Finesteride for about a year before I started HRT but wasn't seeing much happen. Then I I started Spiro (started HRT) and stopped Finisteride about 4 months ago and I have had a significant amount of regrowth in the receded areas in just 4 months. If this pace keeps up I am expecting for it to fully recover in a year or two.
Spiro is manufactured and marketed as a blood pressure medicine. Avodart is manufactured and marketed to treat enlarged prostates, but as a side effect prevents hair from receding any further and may induce breast development...is what I was told by my doctor.
I don't study medicine so I couldn't give you the specific biology involved.
Note: Avodart is extremely harmful to genetic women. Even if they simply touch it (it can be absorbed through the skin), they risk birth defects in future children. A bunch of warnings were plastered all over the bottle when I first picked it up from the pharmacy.
Note #2: I have since been taken off Avodart (since about the past May), because at that point the doctor judged that Spiro alone could handle the problem. Avodart apparently has been linked to some liver problems with long-term use. So, judge accordingly.
Quote from: Sadie on October 25, 2011, 04:06:49 AM
Annah, how does Avodart work differently than Spiro, do they have a different action on testosterone?
Just asking because I guess I am lucky, I had receding in the the two corners of my hairline and also in the crown I had a small spot. Well I was on Finesteride for about a year before I started HRT but wasn't seeing much happen. Then I I started Spiro (started HRT) and stopped Finisteride about 4 months ago and I have had a significant amount of regrowth in the receded areas in just 4 months. If this pace keeps up I am expecting for it to fully recover in a year or two.
Spiro is more of a T blocker but not effective for the elimination of DHT which causes male pattern baldness.
When I am on avodart, it grows the hair out while the spiro keeps the hair loss at a halt. When a man goes off of Avodart, he may lose his hair again because his DHT comes back. When you are on HRT with estrogens and Spiro, you can get off of Avodart and be fine because the Spiro helps your body from having DHT go crazy.
Also, tests have shown that 0.5mg of Avodart is 5 times more effective than 5 mg of Finasteride.
I haven't read this thread in it's entirety so I hope I'm not asking a repeat question. Annah, is it okay to take Estrogen, Spiro, and Avodart at the same time? As of right now, I don't have any male pattern baldness or receding hairline but my hair is fine. I'd like it to be thicker. Would Avodart help with this? And should it only be taken when you start to lose hair or do you take it before to avoid it from happening? Thanks! ;D
Yea. I took Spiro, estro and Avodart together. It's fine. However, your doc may have difficulty prescribing Avodart to you if your hair is not receding. One of the main functions of the drug was to shrink the prostate for men but they discovered the benefited side effect of restored hair. However, I don't know if your doctor will prescribe to you if you only wanted to make your hair thicker. I would think she/he wouldn't.
But you can always ask.
I'm currently on Estradiol, Spiro, and Avodart... I take the Avodart to prevent any loss until I have SRS and it has increased the thickness of my hair quite a bit. I had no hair loss or recession prior to starting Avodart, but my family has a history of male patterned baldness, and I wanted to prevent it before it got started. It's been working great for me so far. No complaints here.
:)
Thank you everyone for all the input :)
You know, I never told the hair club I was going to transition, after all I am still awaiting HRT and living as a guy, so their advise was leaning more toward a guys hairline not a ladies. Considering HRT or Avadort will bring the balding to a grind maybe there is hope with a hair transplant. Time to get a few more professional opinions...
I will ask my doctor about Avadort / Dutas the next time I see her.
My input, FWIW:
If you look at my ticker, you can see how long I've been on HRT. I'm taking Suprefact (Buserelin Acetate) instead of spiro. Instead of blocking the T, it shuts down production completely, by fooling the body into "thinking" there's plenty of T in the system (actually there's close to none at this point - undetectable). I've also been using minoxidil (Rogaine or equivalent) since Feb or Mar. Now, the OTC stuff is 2%, but I just got a prescription for 5% minoxidil, and a compounding pharmacy that'll make it up for me. But in the States, I'm told that stuff is OTC also.
Anyway, take a look at my avatar. Compare that with the photo below, which is from last Christmas (2010). I think I've had some nice regrowth. Nowhere near where I WANT to be, but getting there. And I'm happy enough with it to just go with it at this point. Another thing you can use is Nizoral shampoo. It's reputed to have the effect of getting rid of DHT at the scalp. Also, check out Nutricap - it's a nutritional suppliment in capsule form. About $20 for a month's supply. It's reputed to help thicken the hair, and I have anecdotal evidence that it works. I've also just found out they have Nutricap shampoo, and I'm planning to give that a try as well.
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1228.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fee449%2FColleen_McT%2Fbefore.jpg&hash=fac281bb5ab50d4eb8b04c5b5bccdc5b8895ec6a)
Hey, Annah you definitely got me really interested in this Avodart. lol. I have a couple questions hopefully you or someone can answer.
1. So I've been on hormones for a while like 20 months, and I had some hair grow back, but my recede is kind of growing very light hairs. I do remember that it was shedding and growing and shedding and grow. So I read a post in another forum about this and you mentioned that it will shed also when you start. Does that mean the shedding will be for new fine hairs or the existing thick ones, like what I'm saying is am I going to go bald for like 3 months?
2. I also remember, lol, that you mentioned that you can be on Avodart and stop it if your on hormones to maintain the hair. So I'm right with that understanding?
3. How long did it take for you to get the receding back? and is it for real like you get that oval shape again? lol.
Thanks again for pointing this out. Like I remember propecia, and I took that for two years and it just kept the hair. Then when I stopped because of money issues it all fell out. :(. But it sounds like were in a good situation this time since being on hormones.
Thanks again, hope you can answer these question.
:)
Quote from: BrokenCode on October 28, 2011, 12:10:12 AM
Hey, Annah you definitely got me really interested in this Avodart. lol. I have a couple questions hopefully you or someone can answer.
1. So I've been on hormones for a while like 20 months, and I had some hair grow back, but my recede is kind of growing very light hairs. I do remember that it was shedding and growing and shedding and grow. So I read a post in another forum about this and you mentioned that it will shed also when you start. Does that mean the shedding will be for new fine hairs or the existing thick ones, like what I'm saying is am I going to go bald for like 3 months?
2. I also remember, lol, that you mentioned that you can be on Avodart and stop it if your on hormones to maintain the hair. So I'm right with that understanding?
3. How long did it take for you to get the receding back? and is it for real like you get that oval shape again? lol.
Thanks again for pointing this out. Like I remember propecia, and I took that for two years and it just kept the hair. Then when I stopped because of money issues it all fell out. :(. But it sounds like were in a good situation this time since being on hormones.
Thanks again, hope you can answer these question.
:)
It all depends on the genetics of each person but I can answer the best I can based upon my experiences
1. Yes you will get some growth and then some shedding. That's to be expected. Your new hair follicles are pushing the thinners ones out so don't freak when you comb your hair and find a lot of hairs. This happens with almost everyone at the beginning,
2. I was able to stop it and maintain hair because my T is constantly low. However, if you get off of Anti Androgens for a period of time, you will more than likely start to see some recession again. If you remain on HRT or have an orchi you more than likely would not need ongoing dosages.
3. It took about 4 weeks to notice a noticeable growth in the back of my scalp. It has taken about 5 months to start to see it in the front hairline. If you see my transitional video you can see how the hairs really started to grow back around July/August 2010. I started Avodart on Feb 2010. Again, this is based on individual genetics and how long you began to experience hair loss. I started to begin hairloss at the age of 33 so I had only went 2.5 years with my hair loss before going on Avodart.
The problem with propecia, finesteride, Avodart, Rogaine, etc etc, is that your hair will fall out again if you continue to have T and DHT in your system (if you go off of HRT, etc). That's why men always have to take it for hair maintenance because they are trying to balance out their DHT and T levels with the medication. If you on HRT, you do not have to worry about that as much as your DHT and T levels will be lower than a man not on HRT.
Hope that helps.
Super Thanks for answering so fast Annah.
np :)
Wow, so much time has past since I wrote this post...
My endo did put me on Avodart in Feb 2012, and E two weeks later. He, Dr. Richard Horowitz, would not put me on spiro no matter how many times I asked him, he says Avodart lowers the DHT and the high E levels he put me on would eventually lower my testosterone.
So the results after 2-1/2 years of HRT... My male pattern baldness is still an issue, so I have to wear wigs, lol! On the bright side I have been full-time for a year, managed to keep my job and was even promoted, and my 8-year long divorce is finally going to be settled!
Along the way these last few years I did have 3 more consultations for hair transplants...
- Ziering Medical said they can bring me back to 80% of my original hair for $12000, and they would give me a female hair line
- Bosley said they can do the same as Ziering, but they want almost $20K lol
- Dr. Toby Mayer said that a hair transplant would be a complete waste of money at my age, I'm 39 BTW, and to spend my money on quality wigs and ffs and grs.
Again, after living full time for a year using 100% human hair wigs I am very happy and have no problem passing. I have learned that the $35 synthetic wigs suck ass and actually make you look bad. If your going to take the wig route then budget for $200 ~ $400 for a quality human hair unit, and learn how to wash and take care of it.
Hugs everyone :-) TTYL
Breanne Todd
Hi breanne, I have to agree with you whole heartedly. Having to cope with dysphoria and issues of male pattern baldness and other issues such as body hair and facial hair growth can be debilitating. Fighting real depression right now after elation of last week. Will grind on with support of the girls here and those on passability, hair removal threads.
I joined the MPB club around age 12, going from baby fine hair to loosing hair. Also going from average to very tall. And just to make high school interesting throw in a large dose of gender dysphoria and being overweight. (Sorry, I digressed)
HRT seems to have slowed things a bit. But Friar Tuck here is not a good exemplar. Back 30 plus years ago when I first started loosing mine there wasn't much one can do, plus I never really had a full head of hair to start with. Like all things hormonal I suspect YMMV with MPB treatments. BTW - I have no idea what my T level was pre-HRT. I suspect high since puberty hit. For 6 years I've been E and most of the time on an AA. I cut out the AA altogether and after like a year my blood work cam back well in the normal range. Which helped explain a lot of emotional issues that started cropping up.
A wig is the only way I have ever gone. Most of the time you get what you pay for. I haven't tried any lace front or human hair yet. With my hair loss the lace front is useless. Human hair is too $$$$ for my budget right now.
My hair has been slowing coming back despite pretty bad MPB for only being 2 months on HRT. It'll never go back to the density it once was but im hopeful :)
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FfAoV7CE.png&hash=d188970010b71ec04725417c77b0ecedaba7b314)
I KNOW the limits of the regrowth i can have, but i simply refuse to get a wig. It's the principle for me.
I've been taking Finasteride for a few months. I don't think I've seen any results, but it's still too early to tell. But reading this thread and doing some more research, it sounds like Dutasteride has better results. I'm pre HRT, so I don't have that helping me out yet.
What do you all think? Should I talk to my doc about switching?
Although I'm not really bald at all my hair has receded at the temples slightly causing me to have quite a masculine looking hairline. I can hide it okay with my hairstyle but I have been trying to induce hair growth at my temples since I would obviously prefer a more feminine hairline.
I've been taking spiro and E for a couple of months and avodart and P for a bit over a month.
I also use hot oil treatments. I usually use grapeseed oil or EVOO as the carrier oil since they are supposed to reduce the inflammation in the hair follicles caused by DHT and I throw in some vitamin E oil (I've been using 1200 IU of d-alpha tocopheryl acetate per T of carrier oil) and dried ginger, cinnamon, rosemary, parsley, sage, thyme and sometimes unpasteurised honey. Most of those ingredients are rumoured to help promote hair growth. At the very least they contain vitamins or other compounds that help promote healthy hair. Some people like to add "essential oils" but I didn't want to spend money on what might be "snake oil". All the stuff that I use is what I just have in my cupboards anyway. None of these oils will ever match the power of hormones/ drugs imo but I believe they might help nudge the results slightly and at the very least it leaves my hair feeling soft, silky and moisturised.
I massage my scalp twice a day which increases blood flow to the hair follicles promoting hair growth and reducing hair loss.
My moisturiser which goes up to my hairline fully covering my temples has vitamin E and B-vitamins and I use a retinol (vitamin A) and vitamin C cream up to my hair line too. I'm not sure if this is relevant but... vitamins are... good? So... maybe it helps? :P
I also have a really good diet full of everything my body could need...
Because I use so many different things it's hard to know what's working for sure but shortly after I added the Avodart and P to the spiro and E my hair started to grow back at the temples. It's advanced by about a cm horizontally all the way up the far vertical sides of my temples. So far the regrowth is quite thin and light but the results have been very rapid which is encouraging. Judging from my own experience and from other people's accounts I suspect Avodart may be the main cause of the regrowth.
Quote from: katiej on July 26, 2014, 10:09:33 PM
I've been taking Finasteride for a few months. I don't think I've seen any results, but it's still too early to tell. But reading this thread and doing some more research, it sounds like Dutasteride has better results. I'm pre HRT, so I don't have that helping me out yet.
What do you all think? Should I talk to my doc about switching?
I've never taken finasteride so I can't offer a comparison but whenever I hear about someone who has taken both finasteride and dutasteride they pretty much always say that dutas worked way better/ faster. So yes, it might be a good idea to talk to your doctor about switching. Just make sure that you don't stop taking it until you're post-HRT and your T/DHT levels are way down otherwise it may just fall out again.
While this thread has been necroed >:-) I'll chime in
I starting getting balding/thinning hair about 2 years ago. About a year ago I started Finasteride to stagnate the hairloss and while I was hoping my hair would regrow a little aswell that didnt happen. The result was so-so, I still lost hair but at slower pace
When I started HRT 3 months ago I quit Finasteride and got Cyproteron and Estradiol, my hair has been thickening again pretty rapidly and I hope this keeps going for a while so I can wear my own hair again instead of this wig (I feel so fake with it)
I used to curse I had curly hair, now I am just praying I can get them back..the things despairation does to you ;D